Buckle.



W. A. HOLDEN.

BUCKLE.

. ,1909. l 958,397, f Patentedmay 17,1910.

UNITED. STATES PATENT anion.

WALTER A. HOLDEN, CiF ANLONIA, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE ROBERT BAssE'rT CQMPANY, or snEL'roN, coNiync'rIcUT, A CORPORATION or CONNECTICUT:

BUCKLE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 17, 1910.

Application led September 18, 1909. Serial No. 518,317. l

To 'all whom 'it may concern: Y

Be '1t known that I, faim-:n A. HOLDEN, a

citizen of the United States, residing at An- A 1 tlect the running portion ot' the webbing out forth in the following description and accompanyng drawings in which like reterence characters refer to corresponding parts.

In the drawings Figure. l isa front view ot t-he buckle a portion of the lever and attached ,webbing being shown broken away; Fig. 2.

a side view of Fig. 1; Fig. B, a front View of the buckle showing the lever raised; Fig. 4, a rear view showingthe lever down; Fig. 5, a central vertical section of the buckle shown in Fig. 4, and 1 4` ig. 6, an enlarged vert-ical section ofthe buckle in its closed position 011 the webbing.

My buckle generally comprises a frame or backA and a lever B. The frame A is made out of a sin le piece of sheetk metal suitably blanked an struck up to form a rear bar or web carrying member a, side members ,or ears b, b provided with apertures c, c and front bar'd, l provided with notches e, e. These front members d, l form together with the rear bar c an elongated opening suitable for the passage of the end of the webbing. The leveiLB is also made out 'of a single vpiece 'o'f sheet metal bent to form a front portion or shield f having its top side rolled or curled into a web deflccting member g, the underside of which is provided with laterally spaced web piercing points li, L. Projecting laterally from the upper extremities of the f sido edges ot' the lever are the pintles or lugs c', 'i which are journaled in the apertures c, c:

thereby formingiavpivotal or hinge connection between the trame A and the lever B.

The extremity c of the webbing C is cramped or threaded through the loop or passage formed by the rear bar a and the front bar (Z, (Z ybeing closely embraced between these bars` then folded around the rear bar a and may it' desired'be sewed upon itself by stitches Z. The extremity of the webbing being thus secured to the buckle, the running portion lis carried downwardly forming whatfmay be styled the lower reach and returning upon itself passes upward-ly in front of the bar d, Z in the rear of and beneath the web locking lever B, the roll or detlecting member g of which is swung over the top of the frontl bar d, d until its rear face portion is disposed slightly to the rearv of the frontvbar d, (l in a position immediately above the rear bar u, and coacts with the trout bar (l, l to deflect the ruiming p0rtion ont ot" its normal vertical alineinent as it passes upwardly above 'the buckle forming what may be styled the upper reach. During this closing movement of the lever B the teeth or points zi, t snap over the frontbar d, d and penetrate the upper surface of the deflected portion c of the webbing in a position slight-ly forward of-thereannost portion of the detlecting member or roll y, that is somewhere between the front and rear bars. In this manner the running portion of the webbing is deflected by the roll g for the purpose of bringing the upper and lower reaches into vert-ical alinement along the back, of the buckle and is iirmly held by the spaced teeth h, h, but if desired the eccentric arrangement of the roll f/ may, instead of the y snap over action of the points L, l71 be util# ized to coact with either the front or rear bars to hold the lever in its closed position.

The members ci, al, which -constitute the lfront bar are sufliciently resilient to yield or bend backwardly and forwardly in vresisting the wedging action of the lever when the buckle is being closed and opened, which bending movement also permits the points ioo 71 h to readily snap over the bar, which latter is recessed at c, e to enable the extremities of the points to swing below the top l edgeof the bar. In this" manner a very positive and secure locking action is obtained, since the detlecting member g holds the running' portion of rthe webbing close down on the top of the bar while the points k, h snap over the bar and penetrate the deflected portion of the webbing between the bars as shown in Fig. 6.

The buckle strung as described forms an adjustable loop in the webbing carrying the cast off piece D, and the entlre back A of the buckle is substantially covered exposing only the side members b, b. It is obvious that the rear bar a does not necessarily coact in any manner with the roll q on the lever since this bar may be utilized solely to carry the extremity le of the webbing at any desired distance below the dellccted portion c. I prefer, however, to locate the rear bar a substantially on a level with the front bar al, d so as to hold the folded extremity it' of the webbing substantially against the deflected portion c passing around the face of the roll f/ without eilectiug any gripping or clamping action between these two portions, since this arrangement presents a neat appearance when the buckle is viewed from the rear and Jfurther retards the tendency of l the buckle to tilt rearwardly on the webbing when the latter is slack and the goods 011 display.

By employing a lever having a cam like defiecting surface provided with projectimfl teeth on its underside. instead of a lever provided with a toothed or serrated edge, l ani enabled to utilize sharp points eonstriu-,ted to penetrate that portion oi the webbing in which there is no sharp bend. Points which are thus disposed not only securely hold the webbing independently of the bend therein but also engage and drop the webbing readily when the buckle is being closed and opened, since the degree of penetration is determined by the throw on the lever rather than by the stress on the webbing which latter is the case in buckles in. which the levers have toothed or serrated edges 'for deflecting the webbing.

From the above description it -will appear that my invention is susceptible of such further modiication asmay fairly comewithin the scope of the appended claims.

Having now described Iny invention what I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

l. A buckle comprising a back bent up out of sheet metall to form front and rear bars spaced apart for the passage of the end of a webbing and embraced between a pair of upwardly projecting side ears, and a web holding lever carried between said ears, the said lever having a web del'lecting member arranged to swing over the top of said rear bar when the buckle is closed. and the said deliecting member carrying downwardly projecting spurs arranged to come to rest between said bars and to snap over* and coact.

' with said front bar to hold the running portion ot' a wcl'abing.

2. A buckle comprising a sheet metal back provided with a rigid rear bar and a yielding front bar, a lever hinged to said back provided with teeth arranged to snap over said front bar to hold the running portion of a webbing.

A, buckle comprising a back bent up out ot' a single piece of sheet metal to form a continuous rear bar and a divided front bal connected by a Apair ot' upward projet-.ting side ears7 and a lever having a web dcliecting roll arranged to swing over the top of .said bars, the said roll being of a. length substantially equal to that of said bars and being provided with spaced web holding points on its underside arranged to snap over the iront bar lo hold the running portion of a welibing.

WA l/lFll't A HOLDEN.

Witnesses:

ll'IARG/inrrr ll. Bifix'rnk, ltonnn'r L. MUNonn. 

